oppn parties Chhattisgarh Adds To Congress' Woes Even As Punjab Remains Unsettled

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Chhattisgarh Adds To Congress' Woes Even As Punjab Remains Unsettled

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-08-26 16:23:22

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Even before the patchwork peace formula in Punjab had a chance to succeed, the woes of the Congress party have spilled to Chhattisgarh. With T S Singh Deo openly demanding to oust chief minister Bhupesh Bhagel, the Congress high command has called all party MLAs to Delhi. This is one rebellion that seems to be deeper than Punjab and an immediate change of leadership in the state cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile the situation in Punjab, expectedly, took a turn for the worse after the spat over the remarks of PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu's advisors. Despite calls for their removal, they continue to remain in their posts. On the other hand, Amarinder Singh took to display his strength at a dinner meet called by his loyalist Rana Gurmeet Sodhi which was reportedly attended by more than 50 MLAs and 8 MPs. This happened after three rebel ministers chose to skip a cabinet meeting (held via video conferencing).

In Chhattisgarh, T S Singh Deo is claiming that he had stepped aside from being a contender for the chief minister's post in 2018 on the assurance that the post would be rotated. Since Bhupesh Baghel has now completed half the term (in June) Singh Deo is demanding that he step down and pass the post to him. Even though the high command has called the MLAs to Delhi to ostensibly know their views, if a promise was made to Singh Deo it will have to be honoured otherwise there will be problems. Although both Baghel and Singh Deo are, for now, saying that they will go by the diktat of the high command, it is clear that the battle lines are firmly drawn and neither will back-off.

In both Punjab and Chhattisgarh, the Congress party will have to tackle rebellion with a firm hand. In Punjab especially, since the state is slated to go to polls within a few months, there is pressing need for unity. But in both states, the main contenders ranged against each other seem to be powerful enough to cause the party huge embarrassment in case the decision goes against them. It is an intractable problem and the party is hard put to find a solution.

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